How Amharic Nouns and Adjectives Work
How Amharic Nouns and Adjectives Work
In Amharic, nouns can change their form depending on whether you’re talking about one thing (singular) or more than one thing (plural). They also change if you want to say “the” before the noun. Here’s how it works:1. Singular Nouns
The singular form of a noun is its basic form. This is what you use when you’re talking about just one of something.Example: ቤት (bet) means “house.”
2. Plural Nouns
To make a noun plural (talk about more than one thing), you usually add -ቶች (-och) to the end of the singular form.Example: ቤት (bet) becomes ቤቶች (betoch), which means “houses.”
3. Definite Singular Nouns
When you want to say “the” before a singular noun, you add -ኡ (-u) for masculine nouns or -ቱ (-tu) for feminine nouns.Example: ቤቱ (betu) means “the house.”
4. Definite Plural Nouns
When you want to say “the” before a plural noun, you add -ቹ (-chu) to the plural form.Example: ቤቶቹ (betochu) means “the houses.”
5. Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Typically, nouns are assumed to be masculine unless there is a specific indicator of femininity. Commonly, feminine nouns have a distinctive ending, such as -ት (-t), but this is not always true.| Category | Singular | Plural | Definite Singular | Definite Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine Noun (e.g., house) | ቤት (bet) | ቤቶች (betoch) | ቤቱ (betu) | ቤቶቹ (betochu) |
| Feminine Noun (e.g., school) | ትምህርት ቤት (t'meheret bet) | ትምህርት ቤቶች (t'meheret betoch) | ትምህርት ቤቱ (t'meheret betu) | ትምህርት ቤቶቹ (t'meheret betochu) |
| Irregular Noun (e.g., child) | ልጅ (lij) | ልጆች (lijoch) | ልጁ (liju) | ልጆቹ (lijochu) |
| Abstract Noun (e.g., idea) | ሀሳብ (hasab) | ሀሳቦች (hasaboch) | ሀሳቡ (hasabu) | ሀሳቦቹ (hasabochu) |
| Masculine Noun (e.g., book) | መጽሐፍ (mets'haf) | መጽሐፎች (mets'hafotch) | መጽሐፉ (mets'hafu) | መጽሐፎቹ (mets'hafochu) |
| Feminine Noun (e.g., chair) | መዝናኛ (meznaña) | መዝናኛዎች (meznañawoch) | መዝናኛው (meznañawu) | መዝናኛዎቹ (meznañawochu) |
| Abstract Noun (e.g., truth) | እውነት (ewnet) | እውነቶች (ewnetoch) | እውነቱ (ewnetu) | እውነቶቹ (ewnetochu) |
| Irregular Noun (e.g., friend) | ጓደኛ (gwadeña) | ጓደኞች (gwadeñoch) | ጓደኛው (gwadeñawu) | ጓደኞቹ (gwadeñochu) |
| Feminine Noun (e.g., dress) | ቀሚስ (qemis) | ቀሚሶች (qemisoch) | ቀሚሱ (qemisu) | ቀሚሶቹ (qemisochu) |
| Masculine Noun (e.g., car) | መኪና (mekina) | መኪናዎች (mekinawoch) | መኪናው (mekinawu) | መኪናዎቹ (mekinawochu) |
Adjectives
In Amharic, Adjectives in Amharic come after the noun they describe. They also have to agree with them in gender, number, and definiteness. Below is a breakdown of how Amharic adjectives work:
| Adjective (English) | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Masculine Plural | Feminine Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big | ትልቅ (tilik’) | ትልቂት (tilik’it) | ትልቆች (tilik’och) | ትልቆቹ (tilik’ochu) |
| Small | ትንሽ (tinsh) | ትንሹት (tinshut) | ትንሾች (tinshoch) | ትንሾቹ (tinshochu) |
| Good | ጥሩ (t’ru) | ጥሩት (t’rut) | ጥሩዎች (t’ruwoch) | ጥሩዎቹ (t’ruwochu) |
| New | አዳሽ (adash) | አዳሲት (adasit) | አዳሾች (adashoch) | አዳሾቹ (adashochu) |
| Beautiful | ውብ (wub) | ውባት (wubat) | ውቦች (wuboch) | ውቦቹ (wubochu) |
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